The invention relates to a method for the processing of an analog electrical signal which is reflected from an object and received by a receiver where the amplitude of the signal received is a function of the distance of the object from the receiver. The invention also relates to an electronic circuit for the processing of an analog electrical signal with a receiver for the reception of the signal reflected from an object where the amplitude of the signal received is a function of the distance of the object from the receiver.
For example, in the case of distance measurements, the transmitted signal travels from the transmitter to the reflecting object and returns to the receiver. Over this path the signal is damped proportionally to the distance. The amplitude of the signal received is thus a function of the distance between the object and the transmitter or receiver. Also, the signal received is a function of the geometric size and, for example, of the reflectivity of the material of the object. The signal received from a small object with low reflectivity will be more attenuated than a signal from a larger object with high reflectivity.
The received signal must be digitized for further processing. For this purpose it must be converted by an analog/digital converter into a digital signal. For the reasons stated above, because of the possibly very high dynamic range of the amplitude of the received signal, the input range of the analog/digital conversion must be fully exploited so that the analog/digital conversion has low quantization noise in relation to the strength of the signal.